Putting Out the Fire: Aang's Post-War Journal
by theb3arjew
Summary: A post-war journal written by Aang. This fic will only treat ATLA as canon. The 100 year war is over, but the Gaang's lives continues on. Nobody really thought about what to do after the war, and transition proves to be, well, eventful. From Peace talks to rebellions to full on wars, see what happens after the war ends from Aang's unique point of view!
1. Cabin Fever

(A/N) Well, I kinda came up with this while gulfing down some turkey earlier today. It's going to be written alongside my other story, although I'm in a bit of a block with that one. I'll probably alternate between the two as I get stuck. The idea, as of now, is to write this as Aang's post-war journal. I got the idea for a journal from the excellent Katara POV journal. I think it was called _Writing in Water_ or something like that. It was incredible. All of ATLA will be canon, but I'm mostly ignoring the rest of the Avatar world. My lazy ass will probably steal some storylines from the comics, but I'm going to try to spin this into a new, non LoK world. There will likely be a lot of time-skipping, mostly because you can't have a lot of fun with a 12 year old's thoughts. My end goal is to create a universe similar to DJNS's, except that it doesn't follow LoK. By the way, if you haven't read anything by DJNS, do that now. That shit is incredible! Anyway, I've already spewed out nearly 200 words in this little note, so I'm going to get on with the story. As always, I'm open to all comments and suggestions so feel free to review. Enjoy!

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><p>I don't even know how to start this thing. I've never kept a journal since, well, ever. The monks back at the temple always said that writing was a good way to find balance within myself, but it always seemed like the less fun activity compared to whatever else I could be doing. Even now, I feel like I'm forcing myself to do this. There are so many things running through my mind! Ughhh if Sokka hadn't locked me in this room then I would probably be doing about a million other things…<p>

Anyway, I am stuck in this tiny, metal airship cabin so I might as well be productive. So, journal, here we go.

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><p>For the first time in almost a year, I slept all night without seeing any dead airbenders in my dreams. I still feel guilty, ashamed, and pretty much every other bad feeling about the day I ran away, but I feel like that chapter of my life is over. I still had nightmares though. I couldn't stop worrying about Zuko and Katara. Especially Katara. Did they win? Are they okay? I wish my special Avatar cosmic connection thingy could help me out, but I can't connect to them at all. I'm scared, worried, and panicking, all at the same time, and I can't stand it. That's probably why Sokka locked me in my cabin. He keeps assuring me that they're okay, that he would be able to sense if something happened to his sister. I trust him, but I still can't help worrying…<p>

But I need to stop worrying. The monks always told me to reflect in my writing, so I guess I'll write about yesterday.

Yesterday, well, yesterday I defeated Ozai. And that might not have even been the craziest thing about my day! I guess I should start from the beginning.

I woke up on the mystery island that I had found myself on the previous day. Only, today, it seemed to be moving. Thanks to a conversation with Sir Momo, I realized that I should investigate this mysterious moving island. Something had to be propelling the island, so I dove underwater to look. At first, I didn't see anything, but then I nearly got hit by a massive foot. It must have been twice the size of Appa! I realized that the island must actually be a living, breathing animal. And most animals have heads. I swam up to the front of the island-beast to try to find its head.

Turns out, the island-beast was actually a lion turtle! And a very helpful one at that! It (do lion turtles have genders?) gave me the ability to energybend. It gave me a long speech that reminded me of something that Iroh would say, and it explained energybenging to me. It then took me to a canyon and told me to wait here for Ozai.

Surely enough, a row of MASSIVE airships showed up about an hour later, led by a very mean-looking Fire Lord. Using the strength that the comet gave me, I shot down his airship, and Ozai jumped down into the spiky canyon thing and we began fighting. To be honest, he was probably winning until a pointy rock stabbed me in the back. Somehow, it unblocked the chi that had been blocked by Azula's lighting, and I reconnected with the Avatar spirit. I entered the Avatar state, and I had Ozai on his knees within a few minutes. With my past lives ushering me on, I wound up all four elements into an elemental death spear and launched it towards him. Against the wishes of all of my past lives, I disintegrated it at the last second though. Ignoring thousands of protests, I left the Avatar state.

Ozai did exactly what I thought he would do. He tried to sucker punch me. Well, actually he tried to launch a massive fireball at me. But I dodged the super sucker-fireball restrained him to the top of one of the earth pillars in the canyon. I recalled the advice that the lion turtle had given me and I placed one hand on his forehead and the other on his heart. I connected with those chakras and our chis flowed into one another's. I felt his chi pulsing through my body, nearly consuming me. But then I thought of Katara, and Sokka, and Toph, and all of my other friends. I thought of Gyatso, the Mechanist, Iroh, Hakoda, and all of the others that believed in me. While it is always great to believe in one's self, a little help from others can be a great blessing.

With that confidence, I pushed back. My chi flooded through both of our bodies, and I manipulated my chi so that Ozai would be left with no bending. After that, I withdrew my chi and took my hands off of his body. We both nearly passed out, but we were both alright. Well, except for Ozai's firebending. That was officially gone.

While all of this was happening, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were taking out the massive fleet of airships. Thanks to Sokka, I got the jist of what happened, but I don't really believe all of the details. I'll have to ask Suki later.

Either way, we did it. We took all of the surviving Fire Nation soldiers onto the last remaining airship and began our flight home.

And that's where I am now. None of us have any clue as to what's awaiting us in the Fire Nation capital, but despite all of my worries, I have a good feeling. Part of my worries is what Katara will say when I see her. We kissed before the Day of Black Sun invasion, but things have been, errr, confusing since then. I love her, and I think she knows that, but I don't know whether that feeling is mirrored.

I mean, I know that she cares about me. We are the greatest of friends, and we both know that. We are basically family. But does she think of me as more than that?

Ugh I hate getting myself into this thought loop. Now I'm gonna have to meditate for an hour or two to clear my mind before I can sleep. Otherwise, I'll be up all night with this.

How do I sign off a journal entry? Do I end it like a letter, except to myself? Or do I just kinda stop writing…

Screw it.

(A/N) I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I should have another one out before Thanksgiving weekend is over, but I can never be too sure. I'm still waiting for my first review, so share your thoughts! Is it worth sticking with this idea?


	2. The Peak

(A/N) Second chapter, coming at you! This one is gonna close out the ATLA plotlines. The creative stuff should start next chapter. As always, enjoy, and feel free to leave me a nice, juicy review!

Disclaimer: Despite all of my wishes and prayers, I do not own the Avatar world.

The last few days have probably been the best time of my life. I've been so busy, but so many good things have happened… I just don't think I could be any happier.

The war is over, my former-enemy-turned-friend rules the Fire Nation, Azula and Ozai are on their way to their new homes, and KATARA LIKES ME!

You know what, this must be my peak. I'm the Avatar, so eventually, something is going to go wrong. Problems seem to just follow me around. But most people don't realize they're in the good old days until they're over. Most people don't get to appreciate their life's peak until it's already over.

But I'm going to live life to the fullest these next few weeks. It seems like every conflict in my life has been resolved, and that I just get to live in this blissful, happy world.

Anyway, here's what happened.

It took two days for our airship to arrive in the Fire Nation capitol. My last journal entry really did seem to calm me down, so I didn't spend the WHOLE time in a twitchy panic. I did, however, spend our entire final day perched on one of the lookouts, trying to spot the capitol. Unfortunately, Sokka locked me indoors again during one of my bathroom breaks, so he was the first one to see the capitol.

A crowd of people was waiting for us next to the stairs leading us off of the airship. I desperately scanned the crowd for Katara and Zuko as I walked down the steps, but I couldn't see either of them. I took a few step towards the crowd and I was nearly tackled by a world famous Katara polar bear dog hug.

We hugged for what seemed like an eternity, and when we finally separated, she began speaking.

"Aang, you did it! I don't know what I would've done if I…"

I frowned and interrupted her, "It doesn't matter. We're both here, right now, and we're both okay."

"I know, you're right. But Aang, I really do…"

I felt somebody pull me into a hug. I looked up and saw Zuko, well, smiling. A rare occurrence indeed. After a minute or so of a big group hug, Zuko and Katara began telling their side of the story.

They had gotten to the Capitol just before Azula was to be crowned. She challenged Zuko to an Agni Kai, which was apparently the most awe-inspiring, magnificent fight Katara had ever seen. Zuko won the Agni Kai, but Azula played dirty and tried to strike Katara with lightning. Zuko jumped in the way, intercepting the lightning and absorbing it in a near-fatal way.

Katara tried to go help Zuko, but Azula cut her off. They fought for a little while, but eventually, Katara trapped Azula in a giant ice ball and chained her to the ground. Since then, they had been healing and repairing some of the city until we arrived.

As soon as they finished telling their story, a group of Fire Sages came over and took me and Zuko away to plan the events of the next couple of days. Katara gave me a sad look and mouthed that we would talk later.

I'm not going to re-bore myself by talking about all of those atrociously dry talks, but we basically planned Zuko's coronation and a peace celebration. As soon as the super-combo party was over, we would go straight to Ba Sing Se to begin negotiating a peace treaty with the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes.

I didn't get to say a single word to Katara until we got to Ba Sing Se, but it was still incredible to be at the coronation/peace thingy. Zuko gave an incredible speech (which he later told me he had completely improvised) and I couldn't find a person who wasn't smiling. Almost everybody who had helped us out with the war was there, and they were all happy. Even the defeated Fire Nation troops were happy, looking forward to seeing their friends and families again.

The Fire Sages made me take an official airship to Ba Sing Se with Zuko, but it only took us a few extra hours. Team Avatar finally got to sit down and talk in Iroh's wonderful little tea shop.

We sat around for a while, catching up and joking around. After a particularly pathetic attempt by Sokka to make a sentimental painting, I gave Katara a wink and walked out to the balcony. Surely enough, she got up and followed me out there.

We gave each other a long look, and everything that needed to be said was said in her eyes. I knew, right then and there, that everything was going to be alright. We hugged each other, and it was the single greatest hug of my life.

We separated and she took my hands. I looked her in the eye, and we kissed.

WE KISSED!

It was a simple kiss. But it was still incredibly deep and affectionate. Before we could advance any further, I heard Toph laugh inside and Sokka immediately burst through the door with a shocked look on his face. After a partially sarcastic scolding by Sokka, we all decided to call it a night and headed to our rooms.

I don't know what Katara and I are, but I don't even care. SHE LIKES ME BACK! I just couldn't be happier.

(A/N) Alright, all of the canon fluff is out of the way. Time to get creative! If you enjoyed, leave a review. Expect another chapter before the end of the weekend, and enjoy your post-Thanksgiving hangovers!


	3. The Best Made Plans

(A/N) I drank about 10 too many Pepsis at work today, and I need a way to burn off this incredible amount of caffeine in my blood. Working in retail on Black Friday can do that to ya :/ Anyway, we're officially off the beaten path with this chapter. There are a few different directions I'm considering, so I'm just gonna let this one write itself and hopefully it will make a choice for me. Expect some fluff and general peacetime shenanigans for the next few chapters though, as it would be a little unrealistic to have a new conflict start up immediately after the biggest war in history ends. Enjoy and review! (Still looking for my first one)

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><p>My first date with Katara is tomorrow! I know that I have it all planned out, but I'm still worried. What if she doesn't like it…<p>

Ehh I'm sure I'll do alright. Like Sokka always says, confidence leads to success. I wonder if he would appreciate me using that advice with his sister. Either way, it's been about a week since I last wrote in this so I better fill in on what's happened.

Things have been going great with Katara. Even though we haven't technically been on a date, we've been hanging out a ton, and there's been plenty of alone time. Oh, the things I would have done if I knew that she felt THIS strongly about me earlier. The monks always said to not harp on the past though, so I'm just happy that I know now.

We woke up the morning after that oh-so-magnificent night on the balcony and figured that we needed to make a plan. After a lot of arguing, we came up with a vague idea of what's going to happen for the next few months. First up, we have to stay in Ba Sing Se for the next few weeks to participate in the peace negotiations. Me, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Mai all play significant roles in the process, so we have to stick through it until the bitter end. Well, I guess it's actually a peaceful, blissful end, but these talks are just so dry… ugh.

Anyway, after that we all decided that we needed a vacation. Eventually, we're going to drop everybody off at their respective homes, but we're going to take a long time to get there. After we leave Ba Sing Se, we're heading to Omashu to say hi to Bumi and all of the rebel friends we made after the pentapox outbreak. Plus, I want to take Katara on a date that includes the Cave of Two Lovers and that incredible island that young Bumi showed me, well, 102 years ago.

Next up, Zuko wanted to check in with some family he "befriended" when he was on his own in the Earth Kingdom. While he's doing that, I'm going to give that poor wasp-vulture I killed a proper funeral. After that, we're going to (hopefully) spend a week in Gaoling. As much as I hate to leave Toph behind, she needs to make amends with her family, and we need to be there to help kickstart the process. And by kickstart, I mean probably dragging Toph kicking and screaming until she's sitting at a table with her parents.

After we make sure Toph settles in, we're going to head over to Kyoshi Island and drop Sokka and Suki off. Suki wants her new boyfriend to meet the family, and they could use some time to just relax and hang out without all of the traveling. Until I came along, neither of them had ever even left their villages, and I think they secretly want a chance to relive the good ole days, at least for a little while. I'll check in and say hi, but I kinda want to avoid the, err, awkwardness of all of those Avatar fangirls, so me, Katara, Zuko, and Mai are all going to make a quick stop in Aunt Wu's village before heading to the Southern Air Temple. We'll relax there for a few days, and I want to give a proper burial to Gyatso and all of the other airbenders' bodies at the temple now that the war is over. Plus, I can give Katara a proper tour of the Southern Air Temple!

Finally, we'll leave the Air Temple and pick up Sokka and Suki on the way down to the Southern Water Tribe. Zuko and Mai will have a ship there waiting to take them home, and I can't wait to spend some quality time with my best friend and my girlfriend at their home. I secretly want to actually take my time there. I know that I'm a nomad, but I'm scared of what happens when I have to leave. Will Katara come with me? Or what if I just choose to stay in the South Pole? If not there, then what can I call home? I can't live by myself at the Air Temples. No offense to him, but I don't exactly want to turn into Guru Pathik; a funky smelling hermit. I mean I love him and all, but the onion and banana diet does him no favors.

Anyway, like I said in the last chapter, I have to live in the NOW. I'll figure out my future when it gets here. After the great plan was established, we lounged around all day, basking in the laziness. And we did the same thing the next day. And the next. Finally, me and Katara decided to take a walk, and we saw a poster for a huge dance party. After a wonderful pit stop in a Gazebo in the park, we went back and told the rest of the gang about the dance. They all loved the idea of it, and Sokka had the great idea to get some disguises for everybody so that we wouldn't get mobbed at the dance. I mean, I love the fame, but I also like my sanity. He said that everybody should dress like they're from a different nation to try and hide our identities. After Zuko and I pointed out our rather noticeable features, Sokka said that he would handle it and left with a large bag of money that the Earth King had given us.

He showed up a few hours later, and honestly, I'm impressed. He let the girls pick out their own clothing, but he got me a great looking Fire Nation suit which looked pretty similar to the one I wore during the war. He picked up a couple of sharp Earth Kingdom suits for himself and Zuko, and then he pulled his prized purchases out of his bag. He threw some bottles of skin colored make up at Zuko and I, explaining that we could cover up my arrows and his scar. He then pulled out a short, black wig and some sticky paste to attach it to my head. For once, Sokka really did think of everything.

The dance is tomorrow night, and it's part of mine and Katara's first official date. After the dance, I'm gonna take her to this great Water Tribe restaurant that I found. Then, I'm going to show her this amazing fountain that Zuko showed me the other day.

I can't wait until tomorrow. I don't know if I've ever been this excited and nervous at the same time. Usually, I'm just one or the other. Well, who said love was easy?

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><p>(AN) I think this chapter sets up the next few chapters pretty well. I'm just hoping that I don't spend too much time on the world vacation. It will eventually lead into the first main storyline pretty smoothly, but finding the balance between rushing things and writing directionless fluff seems like it will be pretty tough. Is it okay if I skip over some of the vacation stops, or combine then? Or do you guys want a separate, detailed journal post for every one? Which ones are okay to skim over? I have a few main plot points blended into to a couple of them, so they're locked, but most of them are still open ended.


	4. The Dance

(A/N) I'm sure you guys just love this flood of content. There's no way that I'm going to be able to keep releasing so many chapters so quickly, but I've been stressed out recently, and writing seems to help me calm down. Hopefully people are actually reading this though… Anyway, here's another fluff filled chapter. Stuff should actually start happening in the next chapter, so this story should move from being a fluffy pillow to at least a fluffy teddy bear. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>Yesterday was amazing. I feel like I need to write about just so I can realize that it wasn't some incredible, blissful dream. It was just so, well, perfect.<p>

The day even started perfectly. I woke up to a ray of warm sunlight warming my bed to the perfect temperature. I must have laid there for 20 minutes, just enjoying the peace and quiet. With the peace negotiations starting today, I know that I'm not going to have a lot of time to myself, so I'm trying to savor every quiet moment.

A knock on my door broke me out of my semi-slumber. I looked up with a disappointed face, but when I saw Katara I could only grin. She smiled back and jumped on my bed to sit down next to me. (On top of the covers of course. Sokka might actually kill me otherwise…) We just sat there, talking for a while. We seemingly talked about everything, from our plans for later that day to how stupid Sokka's nicknames can be. After an hour or so, we decided that we had been lazy enough and we got out of bed to start the day.

It's the little moments like these that make realize just how much I love Katara. Sure, I love kissing her and all that, but times like these remind me that I just really want to spend the rest of my life with her. I mean, since when could I make sitting still, talking to somebody a highlight of my day? And thanks to last night, I know that she feels the same way.

Anyway, we went and ate a nice brunch type thing with everybody else. Sokka and Suki decided to cook for everybody, and they did a pretty good job. Sokka is weirdly good at cooking meats, and he made some kind of Moo-Sow bacon, while Suki made a fruit salad.

After we finished eating, Sokka announced that it was time to get ready for the dance.

"Why would we get ready now? It usually only takes me a couple minutes," I asked him, confused.

"We need to get you and Zuko's disguises sorted out, Mr. Arrowhead. Remember the makeup and the wig?"

Immediately feeling stupid for forgetting, I groaned and headed back to my room. A few minutes later, Sokka and Katara showed up to help me get ready. They told me that Mai and Suki were doing the same thing for Zuko. First, they painted the makeup over my arrows. I felt bad about covering up such a big part of my heritage, a dead heritage, but I do value my privacy, and it was only temporary. Sokka said that while it was impossible to wash off the makeup, it would disappear on its own after a few days.

Next, they applied some kind of sticky paste to my head. Katara pulled the wig out of the bag (she promised that it was somehow vegan) and placed it on my head. Satisfied with his work, Sokka left the room to go check on Zuko. Katara stayed behind and tried to comb my wig so it didn't, well, look like a wig. Finally, she stopped and grinned. She said that I had to wait to see it until Zuko was done.

A few minutes later, Sokka came running back into the room. He dragged me out of chair and pulled me into the washroom. Me and Zuko looked into the mirror and started laughing. Our four artists gave us confused looks. Finally, Zuko spoke up, barely containing his laughter.

"Guys, you made us look like brothers. We look practically identical."

And he was right. With my tattoos and his scar covered, we looked extremely similar. We both have the same milky skin tone and black hair. Speaking of hair, his had been trimmed back, and it looked the same as mine.

Sokka comically stared back and forth at both of us, confused as to how this had happened, while everybody broke into laughter. After a while, we sorted out a cover story that we were brothers from the Earth Kingdom. Katara and Mai would be from the Earth Kingdom, while Suki, Sokka, and Toph would just be themselves. Sokka and Toph love the attention, and Suki figured that it was worthless to follow a cover if her boyfriend wasn't.

I pulled Katara aside and told her the basics of my plan. We would stay at the dance for about an hour, until sunset. Then, I would take her to a surprise place to watch the sun go down. After that, we would go to dinner. (Where I used my Avatar cred to get us reservations at a fantastic, romantic restaurant) I left out the part about seeing the fountain afterward. I figured that it would make a great surprise.

A few minutes later, we left for the dance. Normally, we would get a massive escort and ride in a carriage pulled by the finest ostrich-horses. But today, we decided to walk. It was a nice feeling to walk around unnoticed. We took our time getting to the dance hall and we were met with a long line when we got there. The hall itself was a massive building, about 4 stories high with a huge dance floor on the second floor the stretched out onto the massive balcony. We were told that the first floor was all kitchens and other background services, and the second floor was the banquet hall. The rest of the building was hollowed out, serving as a high ceiling for the banquet hall.

Once we got inside, Katara and I separated ourselves from the rest of the group. The rest of the couples did the same thing, with Zuko and Mai migrating over to a corner and Sokka and Suki heading straight for the buffet table. A slow song had just started playing when we reached the dance floor. It truly was a magnificent site. One half of the floor was inside, under a huge, beautiful chandelier. The other half stretched out onto the balcony, under the open sky and lit only by the sky and some warm oil lamps on the railing. Naturally, we chose to dance on the outdoor side.

Once we found an open-enough spot on the floor, we just kinda stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds. I started to panic, but then I remembered our last dance, in that Fire Nation cave. She seemed to love it when I took control, so I decided to do the same thing now. I looked her in the eye, grinned, and said, "Let's dance!"

With that, I put one hand on her hip and placed my other hand in hers, and we started dancing. Because it was a slow song, it was less about dancing and more about the intimacy of being that close to her.

After a few minutes, a new, fast-paced song came on, and we really started dancing. Just like last time, I whispered into Katara's ear.

"Let's pretend we're dueling again. It worked out pretty good last time. Just follow my lead."

"Okay," she whispered back with a huge grin on her face.

And then, well, we danced. Oh man, did we dance. After a few minutes, the rest of the crowd had formed a circle around us, watching in awe. We finished the dance just like we did last time, with me holding her in my arms, sweating but smiling her incredible smile. This time though, I took it a step further. After just staring into her eyes for a second. I closed mine and moved in for the kiss. She must have done the same thing, because we met halfway and I enjoyed the single greatest kiss of my life. Well, second greatest because nothing could ever beat the moment that we had on the balcony.

I felt like I was on my own planet. There was nothing but me and Katara, moving together blissfully. But after we broke away from our kiss, the crowd's applause welcomed us back to the real world. As much as it sucked that they ruined the moment, it was cool to see that we could manage to be the center of attention even when our identities were hidden.

We continued dancing for a little while until the sun was about to set. I told her that it was time to head to dinner, and we left. I had hidden my staff in a food cart just outside the hall, so I went and grabbed it. Katara asked me why I needed it, but I decided to keep that a secret until as late as possible.

I snapped my glider open and told her that we were going to go on a little trip. We had never really tried to fly together on my glider, but she never even questioned it. I quickly showed her how to ride as a passenger and we took off. I took a quick circle over the dancing hall and flew towards the outer wall. Katara kept trying to interrogate the destination out of me, but I just kept grinning. After all, is was an amazing feeling to both be soaring through the air and being this close to her at the same time.

After flying about 10 minutes past the wall, our destination came into view.

"Aang, why are we at Lake Laogai?" Katara questioned.

"I know that this place brings back some bad memories, but just look at it," I replied as we landed on a little perch I had previously carved out of the Cliffside when I was scouting the area. "It just goes to show how people can corrupt the most beautiful of places."

To be honest, it wasn't the greatest spot, but the view was nice, and it was close to our dinner spot. We cuddled up and watched the sun set, enjoying the rare moment of total, complete privacy.

After a while, I used my bison whistle to call Appa. After a few minutes, my favorite bison (and wingman) flew up to the Cliffside and we hopped on.

Our dinner spot was in a village, about 10 minutes from Lake Laogai. It was the only Water Tribe restaurant that I could find near Ba Sing Se, and Katara loved it. Unfortunately, the Water Tribe's diet mostly consists of meat, so I had to suck it up and down some Sea Prunes, but she absolutely loved her food.

I took advantage of the dead time while we were waiting for our dessert to bring up a pretty strong subject. I knew that Katara loved me, but I needed to make sure that she knew just how much I loved her.

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><p>I told her how I already knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I wasn't proposing or anything, but I just know, in my heart, that our love will never really end. And, thank the Spirits, she agreed. She said that the same this was constantly running through her head.<p>

"When did you realize that?" Katara asked me.

"Probably right after the Southern Air Temple. I mean, I liked you since the first time I saw you, but I realized just how amazing you were after you pulled me out of my, err, rage."

"Wow, that long? I guess I first realized after Azula took you down. I realized that I truly couldn't live without you."

"I wish I knew that earlier," I replied, laughing.

After that, we enjoyed our dessert and flew home on Appa. I'm still just in awe that THIS GIRL REALLY LOVES ME! I didn't really sleep much last night, so I'm gonna take a quick nap before these dreadful meetings start.

(A/N) Holy shit. This chapter sucked to write. It's probably not that pleasant to read, either. I got hit with a massive case of writer's block, so I just trucked through and churned this out. The next chapters should be a lot easier though, so look forward to that. AND REVIEW. PLEASE. Also, I came up with a couple cool concepts for fics, so keep an eye out for those over the next few days.


	5. Peace

(A/N) I've been having a lot of personal issues (ugh…) so I'm sorry about the lack of updates for the last month. They should start picking up again now. Enjoy

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><p>Thank the spirits it's over.<p>

Finally, after 3 long weeks, I'm done with the peace talks. The nations still have to work out some minor details, but they're letting me leave now. Maybe they've noticed just how useless I am in their stupid meetings…

I mean, I love peace and all. I really do. Peace, love, fairness, wooo! But I CAN'T STAND being bottled up in a conference room for 8 straight hours every single day. And it doesn't help that most of the people in these meetings are boring, dry, old prunes. Except for Bumi, of course. He's a funny, exciting, crazy old prune.

Our pranks on all of the other old prunes (and Zuko, who might as well be one) were definitely the lone highlight of the past few weeks. Most of the world might think of us as mature world leaders, but, well, we're not. I mean, I guess we're world leaders, but we're definitely not mature. I'm not even 13! And Bumi will never actually act old. I don't think it's humanly possible.

Anyway, we all started our vacation today. The first stop is Omashu, but it's gonna take us a couple of days to get there, so we're camping out for the night. It's just like old times, and it's a great feeling. The trip itself has been pretty boring so far, but that changed once we got to the campsite. Sokka gave me The Talk.

Honestly, I can't really blame him. Me and Katara kinda forced his hand. We were assembling the tents when Sokka came over to talk to us.

"Hey Katara, where are you putting your tent? I don't like the look of the mud over here."

Katara gave him a look, "Sokka, its dry as a bone over here. What mud are you talking about?" Then her face changed. "Plus, I was planning on sharing a tent with Aang,"she said with a nervous smile.

"WHAT!? YOU GUYS CAN'T DO… THAT STUFF YET!"

"We aren't going to do anything. We just like being together."

"Aang, we need to talk. Now."

Sokka literally dragged me into the woods so we could have some privacy. After forcing his way through some thorns, he began the most awkward discussion of his life.

Now, I already knew most of the stuff he was telling me. The monks made sure that every nomad understood their own body, and knew to respect all women. But no matter how often I told that to Sokka, he trudged on. In between every tip and lesson he tried to teach was a threat to never lay a hand on his sister.

Ugh, I really don't want to relive this, either. So I'm not going to. The beauty of a journal! But during that terrible talk, it really did begin to sink in. Katara and I, well, what we have is really serious. Sokka made it clear: I am responsible for Katara now. Before, we were just friends, and there was some breathing room and slack there. Kinda like what happened with my first firebending attempt and with Bato when Sokka and Katara wanted to visit their father. They were angry, sure, but I was forgiven pretty quickly, even if I didn't realize it at the time. Now, there is no room to mess up. Katara and I trust each other completely, and breaking that trust, well, it could ruin everything. That's what the monks always said, Love takes everything to extremes.

Plus, if I hurt Katara, Sokka might actually kill me. We're like brothers, but Katara IS his sister. And he made absolutely sure that I understood that. It really is a lot of pressure.

But it's worth it. SHE'S worth it.

Anyway, on from that deep stuff. Toph challenged Bumi to a rematch of their earthbending duel. I didn't get to see the original one, so I'm pretty excited about it. Katara is worried that somebody might get hurt, seeing as one fighter is a 13 year old girl and the other is a 113 year old man. But I'm more worried about, well, everything else. I wonder if it's possible for two earthbenders to literally split the Earth in half.

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><p>I was going to end this journal entry there, but Sokka wants me to write about the agreements we came to at the peace meetings. He says that it's important to put my thoughts to paper, and that it'll help me with tough decisions later. I guess he has a point, too. So, here we go.<p>

The biggest problem at the meetings was figuring out what to do with all of the Fire nation colonies. Some of the newest colonies were simply returned to the Earth Kingdom, but some of these settlements have been around for generations. People couldn't simply be forced to relocate. And we can't force people to change their loyalties to a polar opposite. So, Sokka and Bumi came up with an idea. Why not just make a new nation? Most of the long-standing colonies were close to one another, and the land was rich enough to be self-sustainable.

Thus, the Volcano Confederation was born (yeah, Sokka came up with the name). The various colonies would become semi-independent City-States, governed by a central council of Firebenders, Earthbenders, and non-benders. We all agreed that the colonies were too different from one another to try and standardize the leadership in each of them, but all local governments have to be approved by a select subcommittee of the central council. Each City-State would send a number of representatives to the council that was proportional to the population of its citizens.

Each City-State will be allowed to have its own standing militia, capped at 1,000 soldiers, but the Confederation will have a large army that will be comparable to the militaries of the other nations. As much as I hate to admit it, every nation needs an army. Violence is never the answer, but it is nice to have a backup plan when people do choose to fight.

Another major problem arose when the Earth King brought up the idea of reparations. The Fire Nation had destroyed so much, so shouldn't they pay to fix it? Everybody saw where he was coming from, but the war had stretched everybody's wallets thin, and Zuko announced that he simply did not have the funds to pay for all the damages. After a couple days of debating, Zuko and Iroh decided to volunteer a huge portion of their military to go around and help rebuild the scarred world. Everybody accepted the plan, and they got back to debating really boring things that I couldn't even try to pay attention to.

Other than that, the various issues were all resolved pretty quickly. It was just the sheer number of problems that dragged out the meetings so long. Ugh, just writing about this stuff bores me.

* * *

><p>(AN) Well, that last line was pretty accurate for me as well. Things will pick up in the next chapter. I've been really busy with life stuff, so there's even odds of another chapter tomorrow or one in a month. I really don't know. Anyway, still waiting for that first review so BE THE HERO. I genuinely do need some input though. I have a twist coming up, but I don't know when to start it. Are you guys really interested at all in the vacation? Or should I skip to some action?


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